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The Nazi Rocketeers

Dreams of Space and Crimes of War
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After World War II rocket scientist Wernher von Braun left his native Germany for the United States, where he became famous as the father of the American space program. Before and during the war, however, von Braun and his fellow German rocketeers had abandoned their dreams of space travel and put their genius to work for the Nazi war machine. They created the V-2 rocket, which killed thousands in London and elsewhere; worked with the Luftwaffe to develop liquid-fueled rocket engines for aircraft; and designed the Wasserfall anti-aircraft missile, which was abandoned before completion. The Nazi Rocketeers tells the dramatic story of these and the Third Reich's other top-secret rocket projects.
Dennis Piszkiewicz is also the author of a biography of Wernher von Braun.
Part I: Dreams and illusions; Part II: War Ascending; Part III: Terror and Counterterror; Part IV: The Rocket War; Part V: Defeat and Triumph; Index.
"Piszkiewicz tells how the dream of space exploration was perverted by the complicity of its developers in Nazi military goals... This is a gripping tale." "Although von Braun and his fellow rocket scientists dreamed of exploring space, they readily embraced the goal of creating weapons of terror and mass destruction. The myth they encouraged after the war described them as brilliant visionaries whose genius was exploited by the Nazi regime. Now, The Nazi Rocketeers tells the true story of how these men enthusiastically participated in the Nazi cause and crimes."-Jewish World Review "Piszkiewicz tells how the dream of space exploration was perverted by the complicity of its developers in Nazi military goals.... In the course of a decade's work as the inspirational figure and chief engineer in the program that developed rockets for Hitler, von Braun joined the SS, was promoted to major, and regularly curried favor with SS chief Heinrich Himmler, the architect of the Holocaust. In the final years of the war, construction of the rockets was carried out by slave laborers in two giant underground facilities... Thousands died of starvation and abuse, and mass executions were common. Yet at war's end von Braun and his colleagues thought only of how they might trade in on their skills to guarantee good treatment. They managed to continue their work in America virtually without interruption.... This is a gripping tale."-Kirkus Reviews
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